Parent/Teacher Communication

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I thought about posting this thread in the Parents' Forum, then in the School Forum, but then I decided to post it here, since it would reach everyone: parents, teachers, and students. Anyway, here goes.

How do you feel about parents and teachers communicating with each other? Does it help students do better in school, because it allows parents to stay on track about their child's work? Or does it simply make a kid's life a living hell, because it unites parents and teachers against them? Or is it something in between? Post your opinion in the poll.

I would love it if we had more parent/teacher communication. As it is now, we only communicate whenever there's a crisis, which is never a good way to handle things.

At first, when I read these questions "Does it help students do better in school, because it allows parents to stay on track about their child's work? Or does it simply make a kid's life a living hell, because it unites parents and teachers against them?" I was confused, but then I thought about it more. With my 10 year old, it's purely to help stay on track about his work, and he has not concept of it being an "us against him" sort of situation. But with my older son, now 20, if I had more communication with his teachers in high school, he would have thought of it as an "us against him" situation.

Kris

Perhaps I should clarify what I wrote. When I wrote "... makes a kid's life a living hell", I meant it as an "us against him/her" kind of thing, as schleppenheimer pointed out. When I was a kid, my teachers talked to my parents constantly, about anything and everything I did in class, both schoolwork and behavior. For years, it truly felt like a "them against me" kind of thing; this was a "don't trust anyone over 30" advice at its finest. (Don't tell me their intentions were good; that's what it felt like.) Just pointing out my life story, if it helps clarify things.